The DNC Is Watching

The Democratic National Committee is soliciting contributions to build a team of video trackers of the sort that caught ex-U.S. Sen. George Allen’s so-called “macaca moment,” which helped to tank his 2006 re-election bid.

That piece of coverage played an instrumental role in the election of Senator Jim Webb in Virginia — and winning back the Senate in 2006. But this turning point in Senator Webb’s campaign would not have been possible without his dedicated staff members following George Allen’s every move — and this costs money.

“The Democratic Party needs to support that kind of diligent reporting in the new election cycle – with video crews permanently on the ground in early primary states, for example,” DNC research director Mike Gehrke wrote in an e-mail to supporters.

“What did John McCain say in New Hampshire? Who did Rudy Giuliani visit in Iowa? What did Mitt Romney do in South Carolina?”

“The DNC needs to know the answers to these questions every time a Republican makes a campaign stop, and we have to be ready to take the proper course of action. Let’s set up a state-of-the-art operation to bypass the media and take the story of their lies, flip-flops, and out-of-whack priorities directly to you.”